By Pastor Rachael Saibu,
Co-Founder/ Senior Pastor at TCOLG
Life is not a bed of Roses. It is filled with ups and downs. Therefore at one point or another in one’s life, one will face problems or situations that may look and feel like a Goliath. During this challenging time, we must trust in God to help meet the needs in our lives without doubting Him, so we can come out victorious. Remember that during difficult times, that is when we need our Heavenly Father more to help us and He will surely help us to meet that need. Don’t doubt his love for you or His ability to do the impossible for you. We must learn to walk by faith in God, and not by sight. In any situation, trust in God and don’t fall into the trap of the enemy.
There are some factors that can hinder or limit one‘s ability in trusting God that we must guide against in order to live a successful Christian life.
1- Putting limits on God. When you put limits on what God can or cannot do, you put limits on yourself, your breakthrough, your progress, and your success in fulfilling your destiny. In the Bible, the Syrian besieged Samaria and caused severe famine until a donkey's head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, one-fourth of a kab of dove droppings sold for five shekels of silver; and a woman boiled her son to eat (2 Kings 6:25 - 29 NKJV). Then Elisha said, "Hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the LORD: "Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria. [2] So an officer on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, "Look, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?" And Elisha said, "In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it“ (2 Kings 7:1-2 NKJV). God proved the officer that said God cannot do the impossibility wrong. The Bible says, “So it happened just as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, "Two seahs of barley for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour for a shekel, shall be sold tomorrow about this time in the gate of Samaria." [20] And so it happened to him (the officer), for the people trampled him in the gate, and he died“ (2 Kings 7:16-20). We can see that is not good to doubt or choose for God what he can or cannot do. God did not only give them victory over their enemy (the Syrians) but also resolved their problems of famine by providing more than enough for their needs. We may have very little faith and our problem may be very big, but let us exercise that little faith by trusting in God and that our God is able to make the impossible possible. Don’t limit God, trust in Him.
2- Poor self image. Many people in life have poor self image that limit their faith in God. Whatever God wants them to do, they feel they are not worthy to do it. They feel that they are not worthy to be used by God and they will never take a step to do it. The truth is, we are all just trusting in God, ”Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God (2 Corinth. 3:4-5). If you are truly clear in your heart that God is calling or leading you to do something, stop giving excuses like Jeremiah did. God called Jeremiah to be His prophet for the nations but he told God, "Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth” and God said to him, “Do not say, 'I am a youth, for you shall go to all to whom I send you, And whatever I command you, you shall speak” (Jeremiah 1:6-7 NKJV). One thing we must realize is that before we were born, God knew everything about us. He knew what we are capable of doing and not capable of because He created us (Jerem.1:5).
Before we came to this world, God already packaged our lives with whatever we needed to fulfill our destiny or His plan for us. The problem is, we contend with God and we refuse to surrender to that which is His will for us. We give all kinds of excuses not to do what He is leading us to do. God will never give us any assignment that He knows we are not capable of doing. Thank God who did not give up on Jeremiah with all his excuses but helped him to become a mighty prophet. Do you see yourself struggling with God’s plan for your life? Why don’t you surrender today to God and let Him help you. God knew underneath Jeremiah’s excuses was fear of the people and that is why God told him, “Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you" says the LORD. [9] Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me: "Behold, I have put My words in your mouth“ (Jeremiah 1:8-9). God helped Jeremiah by putting His words in his month to encourage him to overcome his fear and gave him boldness to speak. He was able to fulfill what he thought he could not do before. It is time to get rid of poor self image and have faith in God to help you.
3- Doubting God. Always, doubt confuses one as to what to do or which way to go. When you trust in God to lead you by His spirit and his word you will never go wrong. If you are not sure about what God is telling you, go back to God and seek His face in prayer again until you get clear instruction. Stop doubting God in whatever you want Him to do for you. As the Bible says, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. [7] For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; [8] he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways (James 1:6-8 NKJV). Doubt confuses one and causes one to loose God’s blessings. Have faith in God and don’t doubt Him.
4- Fear of what people will say or do if you obey God. There are some people, whom God wants them to change their lifestyle for better. They know that the lifestyle they are living is not according to the will of God for them. But they are scared to make a change because they think that if they change their lifestyle to follow the path of God, their friends will not like them anymore or people will start rejecting them. If that is your case, God is speaking to you now, “Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you," says the LORD (Jeremiah 1:8). God that help Jeremiah is your God. He will help you to overcome your fear and those enemies that you fear. They are enemy of your destiny even though you see them as your friends. You know what you are doing now is not what God has in plan for you. That is not who you are deep in your heart. You are just doing it to please others. Fear paralyses and weakens one to be incapable of achieving their goals and convinces them to settle for less. It will not allow one to be who God has created them to be. God wants to showcase your life and use you as an emblem of His glory to change the lives of other people including your friends that you are fearing. Why don’t you start living the life that God has created for you to be from today. Trust in God and have confidence in Him and He will surely help you. God says in His word to you “Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward [36] For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise”(Hebrews 10:35-36 NKJV). Endure the shame of man for the glory of God. He will be with you to achieve your goal. Is only when you have confidence in God alone by obeying Him and trusting in Him that you can get full benefits of His promises. God helped Jeremiah to overcome his fear, He will help you too. Get ride of your fear today and change your fear to faith in God.
5- Fear of failure: A lot of people in this world are very fearful of failure and because of that will not take a step to do certain things that God is leading them to do. Are you one of those thinking that if I should do what God asked me to do and it doesn’t work out then I would be a failure? If God asked you to do it, He will back you up to succeed. If it doesn’t work it is because in the first place, you never believed that it will work. Like Job said, “For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, And what I dreaded has happened to me” (Job 3:25 NKJV). That failure you fear most will not be your portion. Have confident in God alone that He will do what He has promised concerning you and your situation. Fear is a torment, get ride of it out of your heart. Confess your faith today that, “I will not fail, I will surely succeed exceedingly. This is my time and my season” Turn your fear to faith in God.
6- Pride. Get ride of pride that you don’t need God as fast as you can. We all need God. God is the one that gives us power, strength or whatever we need to succeed in this life. Without God, we can do nothing. Remember, “Pride goes before destruction” (Proverbs 16:18a NKJV). Believe not the lies that you can do it all by yourself without God. You have been doing it by yourself and in your own way, see where it landed you. Come back to God to help you. Do not be wiser than God your creator. Do not believe in your own mind that you know better than Him. None of us know it all. Sometimes we don’t see our weakness and the pitfall ahead of our actions but God sees and knows it all. Yield to His warning signs, and don’t ignore them. He will help you to overcome them when you surrender to Him to help you. Humble yourself, seek God in your decision making and follow His direction. Ask for Godly counsel before you take a step.
The Bible clearly affirmed it that, “Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil. [8] It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones” (Proverbs 3:5-8 NKJV). Come back to God, He will surely help you and He will lift you up. If you need to wait, wait on Him to bring it to pass. It is not easy to wait, but if you endure that period, it will bring long period of enjoyment of God’s blessings into your life. Use your waiting period to build close intimacy with God in prayer, in reading His word and in sincere worship. He will surely help you. There is a breakthrough right ahead of you that you don’t see. Follow what God is telling you to do and receive your breakthrough today. Get ride of pride and trust God. Remember with God all things are possible in Jesus name.
Prayer:
1-Heavenly Father, I thank you for your faithfulness and for the life of your precious soul reading this. We cannot lie anymore, we do have challenges in believing and surrendering to you. Humbly we come to you today to help our unbelief.
2-We cannot handle the problem of our lives alone by ourselves. We need your help Lord and we need it right now more than ever before. Help us to trust and rely on you and not on anything else or ourselves. Bring a positive change to our lives.
3- Oh Lord, transform our hearts today, remove any doubt or any limitation that we mighty have put on ourselves or on you that hinder or limit our breakthrough in Jesus name.
4- Oh Lord our God, touch us today and release upon us everything we need to live a successful life in this world as your children in Jesus name.
5- Oh Lord you help David in the Bible to defeat Goliath, you are still the same God on the throne, help us today to defeat that Goliath confronting our lives in Jesus name.
6-Oh God you helped Jeremiah to fulfill your plan for his life, help us to fulfill your plan for our lives in Jesus name. Remove fear from us and help us to have more faith in you more than ever before. Help us to focus on You alone in Jesus name.
7- Oh Lord our father, give us complete breakthrough and complete victory today, bless us more abundantly with everything needed to live a successful Christian life.
8- We will obey you, do your will and serve you our Lord and Saviour. Thank you Lord for hearing us and answering our prayers in Jesus name - amen.
Pastor Rachael Saibu, Co-Founder/ Senior Pastor at TCOLG